Every year about 1.5 lakh newborns in Bangladesh suffer from the chronic hepatitis B virus, easily preventable by vaccination, said National Professor MR Khan at a conference yesterday.
“Chronic liver diseases Hepatitis B and C are easily preventable by vaccines available in all government and private health institutes,” said MR Khan at the inaugural ceremony of the first international Hepatology conference at a city hotel.
Bangladesh Hepatology Society organised the conference with its President Prof Mobin Khan in the chair.
He also suggested proper checking before blood transfusions, refraining from using used syringes, abstention from risky sexual relations, avoiding contaminated food and water and awareness about management of medical wastes to prevent these diseases.
Though the government launched separate department of Hepatology at eight public medical colleges to address liver diseases, but that is not enough to tackle the growing number of liver patients.
About 3.5 crore people are now suffering from different form of liver disease including liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, fatty liver and hepatitis-B and C, speakers said at the conference.
National Professor Dr Nurul Islam as a chief guest said, “People can easily avoid liver diseases by maintaining personal hygiene and sanitation”.
Liver experts from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh presented five papers in the daylong conference. About 1,000 post-graduate local doctors also attended it.
